


Thank You for Using Strife Delivery Service!

by YunaBlaze



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Bonding, Humor, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-03-01 03:37:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18792205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YunaBlaze/pseuds/YunaBlaze
Summary: Business was booming for Cloud with his Strife Delivery Service and he was content to spend the rest of his days with this small business of his. At least until he received a peculiar order...





	Thank You for Using Strife Delivery Service!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Eratoschild](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eratoschild/gifts).



> It's been a very long time since I have last written about this pairing. I have enjoyed writing it very much and I hope this story is enjoyable for you to read, Eratoschild.

Cloud Strife had dealt with many horrible things in his life. Pretty much one thing worse than the previous one throughout his entire life. The blond-haired warrior was certain his bad luck streak was broken after he had been cured of the Geostigma and things had looked up for a time, aside from the minor incident with the Underground troops. Nonetheless, peace had returned to his home and his delivery service was getting a stable line of businesses from all around Gaea. So... why did his bad luck suddenly came roaring its head back at him?

Well... Maybe it was best he explained things a bit. It started out like any normal day of his current lifestyle, Tifa had called and told him he had a new job, a pickup at Location A (some kind of rare meat from a Gongaga butcher shop) and then delivery to Location B (a cave located a few klicks northwest to the village). Easy job!

So why was the blond staring at the maws of a damn monster?

If it weren’t because of all those twisted experiments and mental fragments from Zack, Cloud was pretty much dead meat when the creature lunged at him with a speed that was unexpected for one of its size. Still... What on Gaea was that thing? It looked like a weird stone dragon or a dragon covered in rocks and moss. Either way, it didn’t matter, he needed to slay it and then find the recipient, hopefully not their corpse.

It was a bit of a challenge to beat this monster with his brute strength alone. Honestly, it was time like these that he wished he could use Materia, magic was sometimes the most effective way to dispose of monsters with high defense, but that would go against the vow they had all taken to not take more life force from the Planet’s Lifestream. Steeling himself for a tiring fight, Cloud entered his familiar battle stance with First Tsurugi as the monster roared out in challenge.

***

‘Yes, thank you for using Stife Delivery Service,’ a brunette said cheerfully before she puts the phone down, sighing tiredly as she stretched a bit. Tifa Lockhart could never understand how some of those office workers even endured talking to customers through phone constantly. Being a bartender, the female martial artist preferred talking to her customers face-to-face over just listening to their voice. Still, it sounded like Cloud got lucky, the customer had actually paid extras to the initial amount for the speed of the delivery, her childhood friend was at least five thousand gil richer with this simple job. ‘Hmm... Maybe I should raise his rent at this rate. Heh, heh.’

The familiar sounds of a unique motorcycle sounded outside and Tifa excitedly went out to greet Cloud, though she stopped in her track at the sight of all the brown dirt and greenish grim that clung onto the blond like some permanent stains. And what was that horrible smell? It was like a mix of vomit and bad eggs.

‘Don’t ask,’ was all Cloud had to say as he stomped towards their home with a slightly disgruntled look.

‘Well... That explains why they have paid extra...’ Tifa remarked with a small shrug, though a grimace soon appeared on her face as she recalled that it was her turn to do the laundry this week. Damn it!

***

Cloud was sure there was some kind of conspiracy behind many of his recent deliveries. Oh no, he was not paranoid. No sir, nuh-uh. Seeing all said deliveries seemed to be attempts to murder him! At first, he thought it was some kind of morbid joke or his bad luck streak had somehow made a horrible grand return, like Sephiroth himself did, but nope! It was most definitely intentional! And whoever it was, they were most definitely sadistic of the highest degree! OTHERWISE, WHO THE HELL ELSE WOULD KEEP ASKING HIM TO DELIVER PACKAGES THAT APPARENTLY CONTAINED SNACKS POWERFUL MONSTERS LOVED TO CHEW ON?! AND HE WAS ASKED SPECIFICALLY TO DELIVER THEM INTO THEIR LAIRS! IF THOSE COULDN’T BE COUNTED AS MURDER ATTEMPTS, THEN HE DIDN’T KNOW WHAT ELSE WOULD COUNT! AND FOR THE RECORD, NO LARGE AMOUNT OF GIL OR PRECIOUS WHATNOTS IN THOSE TREASURE CHESTS WERE WORTH GOING THROUGH THOSE LONG AND PAINFULLY DRAGGING BATTLE!

The blond was being extra careful now, whatever deliver that came his way, he first demanded complete transparency from his clients (he did not care if they wanted him to smuggle some suspicious drugs or deliver some embarrassing sex toys!) and no buts! Not even if he might lose more clients than he gained by enforcing this new rule! So long that he knew what in Gaea’s name he was going to be delivering, he would not fall for another death prank like an idiot!

Not that anyone really noticed his inner turmoil of cursing and hissing fit that was worthy of a bad-tempered cat. If he was thankful of one thing what all those diabolical experiments had done to him, it would be that it took a lot to actually break through his stunned emotions. In short, his face was practically a stoic mask that barely showed a glimpse of his emotions, no matter how mentally unstable he was. Most of the time he could manage a small smile here and there when he was really happy, but that was pretty much it. Nevertheless, at least he wasn’t freaking Tifa, Marlene or Denzel out. Pretty sure his inner crazed monologues would look ridiculous frightening when displayed openly and wildly.

‘Hey, Cloud, you got another deliver,’ Tifa called out from the doorway, drawing Cloud away from glaring at the stack of papers that marked all his disastrous deliveries and trying to piece together his supposed conspiracy.

‘What is it?’ the blond asked neutrally, though he was actually dreading it. Please let this be another normal day-to-day basic delivery that would not attempt to bite him back.

‘Your favourite,’ his childhood friend answered with a playful smile as she waved the delivery form in her hand. ‘Flowers.’

Cloud allowed himself to release a relieved sigh. Thank Gaea! A normal delivery! After weeks of bad deliveries after bad deliveries, he was so happy that things seemed to be going back to normal! And with flowers no less! He enjoyed delivering those, it always brought smiles to people’s faces and it reminded him dearly of Aeris. ‘Where to?’

‘That’s the thing though, they are to be sent to Banora,’ Tifa answered with a small frown.

‘Banora... Why does that name rings a bell?’ Cloud wondered. The name tickled a memory in his head, both his and Zack’s, weirdly enough.

‘Ah I think you remember the name from the time when you were in your mental coma. I remembered some of the old couples talking about a forgotten village where they usually got some kind of rare apples from,’ Tifa replied, her expression turning sour at that. ‘I guess the flowers are for the dead.’

That was a saddening thought, but Cloud accepted it nonetheless, he could hardly refuse such request. After all, he never got the chance to leave any flowers for Zack and Aeris until much later.

***

The trip to the Mideel was not as long as the blond expected, especially when Cid gave him a ride on his airship to the southern continent, though reaching Banora was another matter entirely. For one, the roads that once accessed it were all blocked up or deteriorated to the point that nature over took them. Two, monsters seemed unnaturally aggressive in the area. Three, the actual place was pretty much destroyed, leaving nothing but a canyon where the vibrant green light that was the Lifestream slipped out constantly. He hadn’t seen such display of Mako since his adventure with the group at the Northern Continent years ago.

It was saddening that there wasn’t even some kind of memorial stone place around here. Hmm... Then where was he supposed to put the flowers? Cloud doubted it would be nice to just leave them in the middle of road like this. Perhaps he should get a high ground view of the place, maybe he would find a good spot to leave the flowers for the deceased. Adjusting his hold on the large bouquet of flowers, the blond headed upward, climbing rocky paths and jumping over deep chasms until he found something rather peculiar.

A bended tree.

Not bended because it was attached to a heavy weight or partially cut, but it naturally bended. The tree was vastly different from the other trees from the forest, instead of an earthly brown bark, it was white, almost silver. Not to mention the fruits it bore were blue and white instead of red and green. How peculiar.

Curious, Cloud put the bouquet of flowers aside and went to pluck one of the fruits. As the warrior weighted the apple in his hand, he was struck by a sudden sense of nostalgia, almost like he had taken such fruit in his hand before, though that would be impossible. He had never even heard of Banora until this delivery. Perhaps... Zack had been here before?

‘All grown up I see.’

Acting on reflex, Cloud drew his sword as he turned around, holding it in a defensive stance as he surveyed the seemingly empty area. Where was the speaker? He didn’t even sense another presence. His grip on the sword handle tightened unconsciously, he had never encountered an enemy who could escape his enhanced senses. Even Deepground’s elites hadn’t managed to sneak up on him.

A faint air current lightly teased his back and Cloud slashed backward without a second thought, though he was surprised to find that his broadsword was blocked. His first thought upon seeing black feathers was Sephiroth, though it was soon dismissed when he noticed more crimson than black on his opponent. The stranger wore a slightly tattered crimson coat, auburn hair that looked as vibrant as a burning fire, blue eyes that glowed in manner that only Mako-enhanced SOLDIER carried and, last but not least, a large pitch black wing on his left side. Who...?

Cloud quickly jumped back to put some distance between them and studied this stranger, ex-SOLDIER, with a critical eye while his opponent was staring at him with curiosity. No hatred or madness of whatsoever in those sapphire eyes of his. ‘Who are you?’

‘Me? Just a forgotten memory of a bygone time,’ the man responded smoothly.

Cloud tensed up further at the words, recalling Sephiroth’s last ones to him. I would never be a memory. Still, this man was obviously no Sephiroth and no clone of his either, because Cloud did not sense any form of mental connection with the stranger. Nevertheless, he had no idea if the man was a friend or foe, so he could not let his guard down yet.

The redhead did not seem too worry about his presence, he even sheathed his rapier and dismissed his own wing before he went to pick up the flowers left on the ground.

‘Those aren’t for you,’ the blond instantly said.

‘No, they aren’t,’ the redhead agreed as he gently laid the flowers against the strange tree and rested one hand on the tree bark. ‘ _Even if the morrow is barren of promise. Nothing shall forestall my return._ ’

‘You... You’re the one who ordered the flowers?’ Cloud was confused.

‘Yes,’ the stranger answered before he stood up, looking at the delicate flowers with a sad face.

‘Why ask me to deliver flowers when you can just...’ Cloud made a feeble gesture of a wing flapping. ‘Fly to the nearest village for them? Or just pluck them from the forest.’

‘ _My friend, your desire. Is the bringer of life, the gift of the Goddess,_ ’ the ex-SOLDIER replied cryptically.

The delivery boy sighed in slight exasperation at the nonsense response, though he had far worse ones, so he could deal with this. Silence fell between them while the stranger seemed to be lost in his thoughts or memories, Cloud was feeling a little frustrated by this déjà vu feeling the more he stared at the tree and the sun slowly bathed it in its orange glow, it tickled a memory he had lost to Mako poisoning and the merging of Zack’s memories with his, then he realized something. ‘What do you mean by all grown up?’

The redhead hummed questioningly before he answered, ‘Compare to our first meeting, you have most definitely grown up. Not to mention the fact that you went from a weak and short trooper one could dismiss to being the grand savior of the world and one who had defeated Sephiroth thrice. A grandiose step up it is.’

Cloud felt the old and dust covered urge to retort about his size on the tip of his tongue, though he held it back, wanting to know where or when they had even met. He had no recollection of having met any other SOLDIERs than Sephiroth and Zack when he was nothing but a feeble trooper, at least in whatever memory he had managed to recover... Somehow the thought that he might have lost more than he initially believed was a little... frustrating. After all, he had went through quite a dilemma and took quite a journey to finally piece himself back together again. Still, there was one thing he was wrong about him.

‘I’m no savior,’ Cloud murmured. A savior should be someone who could save whoever they wanted to protect, not someone who lost the two closest friends he ever had.

‘ _Legend shall speak. Of sacrifice at world’s end,_ ’ the stranger quoted with a look of understanding. ‘But the world is nonetheless indebted to you for stopping Sephiroth.’

The blond sighed as he finally sheathed his own weapon. Obviously, this guy could easily kill him with his cryptic words than with his sword. ‘What on Gaea are you quoting?’

His exasperated demand seemed to amuse the stranger, judging by the smirk he wore as he answered, ‘LOVELESS.’

‘LOVELESS,’ Cloud repeated, recalling seeing that... stage play? Was that it? Or was it a movie? He could not remember very well, seeing he didn’t pay much attention to the posters or advertisements, but the name did ring a bell.

‘I am surprised that some still did not know of it, when the whole world seemed to be talking about it nonstop,’ the redhead remarked, thoroughly amused by this peculiar fact, though it went completely over the delivery boy’s head as for why it should be funny. ‘ _Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess._ ’

Cloud sighed once more at the quoting and his reaction to the confusing quotes seemed to be a great source of entertainment to the stranger, then he asked in slightly sarcasm, ‘Do you have a name, Oh Infinite in Mystery?’

That made the redhead chuckled as he replied, ‘Genesis. _Hero of the dawn, Healer of worlds._ ’

‘You are never going to stop quoting, aren’t you?’ Cloud demanded with tiny frown on his face.

‘Never,’ Genesis answered with a grin.

***

Afterwards, Genesis had kind of became a frequent client to Cloud’s delivery service, always asking him to deliver flowers to one place or another, though at times, the blond felt like the man was trying to guide him to places where he had been in the past, trying to jog his memories or maybe not his, but Zack’s. Wutai, Modeoheim, Midgar. Places where he could glimpsed flashes of old memories, some had Genesis in them, though they were all blurry and unfocused. Nonetheless, Cloud understood that these places not only held significant meaning to Genesis’ past, but they were also places he mourned for the dead, so he made the deliveries without ever asking questions. Each person had their own way to mourn for the dead and manner to repent for their past.

Most of the time, Genesis would already be at the location, waiting for him and the flowers and they would just spend their time there in silence or the ex-SOLDIER would just start reciting lines and lines from his old LOVELESS book. It was... unusual, though Cloud found it soothing and peaceful, despite the sombre nature of their visit to the desolated ruins.

The blond didn’t realize he had gotten used to the man’s constant presence and LOVELESS quoting until one day, there were no longer any demands of flower deliveries from Genesis. The redhead had visited all the places he wanted to visit and just ceased all contact with him. Genesis didn’t even have the courtesy to send him a text! Even Vincent Valentine, the man who literally did not reach out to others by text, had started sending a text to him once a month! It was... frustrating? Vexing? Annoying? Cloud could certainly think a few more unsavoury words for Genesis’ sudden dropout from his life.

Or he would have been angry and seething if...

‘Cloud! Someone is here to see you! It’s another delivery!’ Tifa called out from below.

The delivery boy sighed as he moved away from sorting the papers on his desk to check what new job he got. It must be important if the sender was asking him personally or its content was too sensitive to be written on a paper. At least, he did not have to worry about the damn prankster/murderer attempting to lead him into a monster nest again. Not even Tifa’s constant reminder that he had enough money to buy a place of his own and live the rest of his life in casual luxury would ever make him think it was worth it. Money was nothing to him, friends and company were.

‘So what’s the...’ Cloud trailed off as he stood frozen at the bottom of the stairs when he saw who the client was. ‘Genesis?’

‘Hello Cloud,’ the redhead greeted back politely.

There were so many things running in the blond’s head right now and he was not sure which he wanted to respond to first. Punch Genesis? Yell at him? Throw him out of the building? Those sounded like excellent beginnings, but they all died when Genesis handed him his Strife Delivery Service paper form and a familiar yellow flower.

Cloud mutely took the form and read it, chuckling slightly at what he saw. A single flower to one Cloud Strife, delivered to the Edge Drama Club Theater, at exactly 8 o’clock sharp.

Well... That was an interesting twist. He did not see that coming.

‘Interested?’ Genesis asked with his usual amused smirk on his lips.

Cloud put on a pensive look before a smirk of his own slowly stretched on his lips as he quoted, ‘ _The wind sails over the water’s surface. Quietly, but surely._ ’

That drew a laugh out of Genesis who was actually relieved that the blond accepted his invitation. Guess Angeal was right, sometimes gifts did not need to be extravagant, they just needed to come from the heart. Also because he was out of monster nests that he could send Cloud to for dating sites.


End file.
